Little Sister Stories
by chaelzbellz
Summary: FNL has been one of my favorite shows from the start. I’ve never written a story for it. I have written a few OC little sister stories so I thought I’d give it a shot with FNL and chose to use Jason, Tim and Matt. Hope you like it!
1. Chapter 1

A/N: So FNL has been one of my favorite shows from the start, but I've never written a story for it. I have, however, written a few OC little sister stories so I thought I'd give it a shot and chose to use Jason, Tim and Matt. Hope you like it!

FNL Little Sister's stories

Jason and Nicky

Jason's accident wasn't something I knew how to deal with. It wasn't like you see in the movies or anything. At least not for me. I didn't rush through the crowd or kneel next to him. I did it all wrong. I just- I felt this chill go over me and it was like I couldn't breath. Everything just went so fast after that. Next thing I knew we were in the hospital and there was some doctor telling my brother he'd never walk again.

Both of my parents cried to the point where the doctor proscribed my mother a sedative so she wouldn't have a panic attack or something. Daddy went with her to take it.

I jumped when Jason spoke to me. "You okay?"

"Huh?" I said. I didn't want to stare at all the casts and stuff seemingly holding my brother together, so I just didn't look at him.

"Are you okay?" Jason repeated.

"Yeah I just…" I felt something rise in me and stopped so I wouldn't cry. I refused to cry. At least not in front of my brother. He was the one who deserved to be crying and I wasn't going make this about me.

"Nicky come over here." I slowly made my way over to him. "Listen, I know all this…I know it looks bad, but it could have been worse, you know. I mean the doctors said I could have- Just trust me it could have been much worse. We just need to be thankful right now."

I wanted to be. I mean nobody wants to be the selfish, glass half empty, why me person. Jason wanted me to be- I was supposed to be thankful. And maybe I was gonna get there. But not at that moment. At that moment all I could be was angry and upset. More than that I just wanted my big brother back the way he'd always been.

/

(Jason 10, Nicky 7)

"Don't be a moron." Tim Riggins said kicking a discarded soda can further up the road. "How would it be possible for one guy to travel all around the world and deliver presents to every single kid."

"That's what makes it magical." Nicky Street explained. "And 'sides he doesn't go to every single kid. The bad ones don't get presents. They get a lump of coal."

"There's no such thing." Tim said.

Nicky crossed her arms. "There is so!" It was then that her older brother Jason, who'd gone into the house to find his tire pump, emerged. "Tell him Jason!"

Jason tossed his sisters hair "Tell him what Nic?"

"Tim says there's no such thing as Santa Claus."

"Tim." Jason sighed. "Why do you gotta go upsettin' her like that?"

"Its not true is it Jay?" She asked worried.

Jason smiled. "Course not. He's just fooling, aren't you?"

"I guess." Tim said reluctantly. "But man she's getting a little old to be believing in some damn..."

"Tim!" Nicky gasped. "Our mama said no swearin'. You're gonna be in trouble."

"Nicky." Jason stopped her before she could get back in the house. "Mama also said no more tattlin' didn't she?"

"Well yeah but..."

"But wouldn't it be more fun helping Tim and me fix our tires than to get us all in trouble?"

She picked at her shirt. "I guess…"

Tim sighed, to show that he was not too keen on the idea of working with his best friend's baby sister, when the reality was Nicky might as well have been his family too. He was almost always at the Street's house and the only reason he picked on her so much was because they were comfortable around each other.

"Y'all be careful with that." Mrs. Street called out from the doorway.

"Yes ma'am." The three kids said in unison.

"In fact," She said. "dinner's almost ready. Tim you're more than welcome to join us."

"Thank you ma'am," Tim smiled. "but I can't."

"That's too bad honey. Nicky it's your night to set the table isn't it?" She nodded. "Come in after you help the boys clean up" Mrs. Street said going back into the house.

"Alright mama." Nicky said.

"Why can't you stay for dinner?" Jason asked.

"I just can't." Tim said. "…Billy said if I keep eating dinner over here your parents are gonna think we don't have anything to eat at our house."

"Well you don't do you?" Nicky asked curiously.

"Nicky!" Jason silenced her.

"Sorry." She said embarrassed and began scuffing at the ground with her shoe.

"It's okay Nic." Tim said. "We have stuff to eat its just- Billy's busy with school. When my Dad comes home he'll make sure…"

"We know." Jason said. "It's cool man. My parents aren't gonna think anything."

"I still can't stay tonight Street." Tim said getting on his bike.

"Okay." Jason said picking up some of the bike tools. "Hey Tim can I borrow some of these to finish up my bike? I'll come over to your place later and give'm back?"

Tim nodded. "Sure man. See you later then. Bye Nicky."

"Jase?" Nicky asked after Tim was gone.

"Yeah?"

"Don't you have all those tools Daddy gave you for your bike?"

"Uh-huh." He said.

"Well then why d'you need to borrow Tim's?"

"I just would rather use these tonight. I'll return them after dinner and maybe ask Mama to make him a plate to bring over- you know since I'm already going over there."

"Nic!" Their mother called from inside of the house. "I thought I told you to do something little missy."

Nicky sighed. "Comin' Mama."

Tim and Ella

I slumped my backpack from one shoulder to the other and wondered what in the hell made textbooks so heavy. It didn't help that I was carrying my books **and** my brothers. It was so stupid. It wasn't like bringing him his textbooks would make him actually do his homework. It also didn't help that I'd planned on getting a ride back from school. But Billy said he had to work late and Tim was pulling a hermit routine. I turned around hearing a car honk.

"Hey Ella." My chest tightened as Mrs. Street pulled up to me.

"Oh, Hi." I smiled hoping I didn't look as awkward as I felt.

"You walking all the way home from school?"

"Yes ma'am." I nodded.

"That's a pretty long walk." She said. "You want a ride."

Any other time I would have loved a ride, but with everything that'd happened to Jason I wasn't too sure. "No thank you Mrs. Street. I don't want to be any trouble."

"Oh hun, I don't mind. It'll only take ten minutes to give you a lift and it's on my way."

I couldn't find any arguments on that so I walked over to the passenger side and got in. The awkwardness started suffocating me after 15 seconds of silence. Things had never been awkward with me and Mrs. Street. She'd always been so nice to our family and my brother was best friends with her son. I guess that was part of the reason it was so uncomfortable sitting in a car with her when Jason was in the hospital and Tim hadn't even said anything about going to see him.

"Oh I'm so glad that's done." She said.

"Ma'am?"

"Chemistry." Mrs. Street pointed to the text book I was holding. "I was the absolute worst."

"I may give you a run for that title." I said. "I'm not exactly on the way to becoming a chemist."

"At least I did better with that than in Bio."

"Ugh. Bio." I groaned. "I couldn't deal with Biology last year. I couldn't handle all of that gross stuff about body parts and bones and blo-" I froze. I mean her son was in the hospital! Was I not the biggest idiot in the world? "I- I mean."

She cleared her throat. "It's okay sweetheart." But it wasn't okay. Not at all. I pretty much ran out of the car when we got to my house.

Our house was too quiet. Billy was at work as usual and Tim just laid in bed all day. Usually that meant he was drunk, but that wasn't it this time. I looked in the fridge and checked the last of our milk to see if it was fresh. Billy hadn't gotten paid yet so going to the store for more wasn't an option. The milk had two days till the expiration date, so I figured it was safe and poured it into a bowl of cereal. I knocked on the door.

"Busy." I heard from the other side. I went in anyway. "Did you not just hear what I said?"

"Uh-huh." I said sitting on Tim's bed. "But I made you dinner."

"Yeah, well I'm not hungry." Surprise surprise. He hadn't been hungry in two days. Not since…well not since Friday night's game.

"Well I mean you ran through all the beer so I figured-" I sighed. "You gotta eat sometime Tim."

"You haven't." He was right, but I hadn't thought he noticed. Something about watching Jason Street get carried off the football field sorta killed my appetite too. But, ever the hypocrite, I wanted my brother to eat something.

"Billy'll be home in an hour or so." I said changing the subject. "So the truck'll be free if you want to go get something other than cereal or you know…to the hospital." He didn't say anything. "You know since that's where Jaso…"

"I know where he is Ella." He snapped.

"Well then why haven't we gone over there?"

"Nobody's stopping you."

"You mean aside from the fact that I cant drive yet and you wont give me a ride OR the fact that I can't go without you because he's YOUR best friend and it might be a little messed up for me to show up when YOU haven't even called? My question is what's stopping _you_?" I put down the cereal on his nightstand, too ticked and upset to play baby sitter anymore. "Eat your freakin dinner jackass."

"You're the jackass." he said under his breath.

"Shut up." I said about to leave.

"Els?" He stopped me.

"What?"

"Can I get a spoon?" I looked at the bowl of cereal.

"Unbelievable." I huffed walking back to the kitchen.

"Is that a yes?" I heard him following after me. I didn't bother verbalizing the answer because I figured if I opened my mouth I'd scream. And the need for a spoon meant he was in fact going to eat which was good. Even if he was acting like a two year old. A bratty two year old who needed a time out. I slapped the spoon in his hand. "This the last of the milk?"

I nodded. Tim thought before grabbing another bowl out of the rack next to the sink. He poured some of his cereal in it.

"Tim you're making a mess." I said fully aware of the disorder the rest of our house was in.

"I'll clean it up." He said when we both knew that wasn't gonna happen. He slid the bowl over to me. "Don't think I haven't noticed you haven't eaten either." I jabbed at the bowl with another spoon, spilling a little milk on the table. "Now who's making a mess?" I got up to get a paper towel. "I'm only kidding Els, God. Would you stop pouting long enough to take a joke?"

"Tim I talked to Mrs. Street today." I said quietly.

"W-what?" He looked up. "Why'd you do that? What'd you talk about?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?" He asked.

"Nothing." I repeated. "School."

"Okay. Well quick question, when exactly did you decide to go behind my back?"

"Behind you back?" I rolled my eyes. "I wasn't aware that _Mrs. Street_ was the enemy or something. And stop snapping at me."

"I'm not saying she's the enemy." He said. "Just why did you have to go to her?"

"I didn't go to her Tim. She saw me trekking my heavy ass back pack home from school since my normal ride spent the day boozing and eating cheetos in bed and left me to carry both our books."

"I never asked you to do that Ella." He said.

I scoffed. "That's so not the point Tim."

"Look I'm sorry I snapped at you or whatever…Did she say anything about- about Jay?" He asked.

"We didn't talk much… But Tim I really think if you just-"

"Hey ya'll." My other brother Billy entered interrupting me. "Guess who got paid today? Yup I went to the store and picked up a few things."

"Nice call." Tim said grabbing one of the newly purchased beers and heading back into his room.

"Those aren't that cold yet Timmy." Billy said getting no response but Tim's door closing.

"Damnit Billy." I huffed frustrated.

"What'd I do?" He asked. "God all I do is walk into the house and already your pissed at me?"

(Matt and Lydia)

I'd just finished reading the same sentence for the third time when the phone rang.

"Telephone!" I heard Grandma call out.

"I got it!" I yelled back picking up. "Hello?"

"Lydia!"

"What do you want Landry?"

"Is Matt there?" He asked.

"Landry." I sighed. "You dropped him off here, what, twenty minutes ago? He doesn't have a car and even if either one of you EVER did anything apart from each other, its still eleven o'clock on a Sunday night in Dillan, Texas. What exactly do you think he'd be doing?"

"Well somebody's snippy tonight." He said. "Just put him on." I sighed and knocked on my brother's door.

"What's wrong?" Matt asked.

"Other than the fact that the village idiot still continues to call our house?"

Smiling, Matt took the phone. "Hey Landry…What? No Landry she didn't just call you an idiot."

"Lydia Jean? Who was on the phone?" I turned around and saw my grandmother standing there.

"Grandma. What are you doing out of bed?" I asked.

"The phone was ringing wasn't it?" She said.

"Yes it was, but I picked it up." I explained.

"Oh." She smiled. "Good girl."

"Grandma I think you should get back in bed. If you stay up too late you'll be too tired to watch your morning shows tomorrow."

"You know I am kind of sleepy." She said. "Goodnight Sweetheart."

"Night Grandma."

"Goodnight Matthew."

"G'night." Matt said. "No not you Landry. Look I have to go. I have practice in the morning…I'm not sure… Look I told you all I know… No I don't think you should print fan T-shirts Landry…I'm hanging up now."

"What is Landry Clarke like your P.R. guy now?" I asked, plopping myself on his bed.

"He wants to be. Hell, if it were up to him this whole thing'd be a three-ringed circus. Its not like it's a big deal that I played the last part of the game. In a week or so Jason Street will be back on his feet and I'll be back to the days when my jersey stayed clean the whole game."

"But didn't Coach Taylor say he was gonna work with you this morning after church?"

"Yeah." He said. "But that doesn't mean anything. I'm sure he's just covering his bases."

"Look, don't get me wrong, I'm praying for Jason just as much as the rest of the town, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna pretend my big brother taking home a W isn't a big deal."

"Thanks Lyd." He said. "Hey I thought I was the oldest. Aren't I supposed to be the on giving you the congratulatory pep speech?"

"If I ever do anything to deserve one, you get dibs."

"Oh come on you do stuff. You're a big bad journalist." He said.

"Writing ten sentences in what is sadly considered the "World News Segment" in a high school newspaper nobody reads does not a journalist make. Besides I'm pretty sure they only gave me a job because Daddy's in the army."

"You still coming tomorrow?" Matt asked.

"Yeah. Even though I think its ridiculous that we have to do those stupid IChats so damned early."

"Hey, you know we have to work around his schedule. And it works out because I get to be at practice on time." He said closing his sketchbook on a drawing of a panther.

"Hold on." I said stopping him. "Matty, that's really good. You know it's not too late for me to run that by Mr. Frost."

"Lyd…" he sighed.

"I know, I know." I'd been trying to get him to submit his stuff in the paper for months. "It's just good is all."

"Alright." He smiled a little. "We both better get to bed before I let you turn me into an ego maniac."

My brother worked harder than just about anyone I knew and at the end of the day his only cheerleaders were me and my grandmother. And to be completely honest neither of us took _her_ praises too seriously. I mean, she was Grandma. She would to throw us a parade just for tying our shoes every morning if she could. I wasn't trying to make my brother into an egomaniac, but I wanted to try and make him feel good. Someone had to.

A/N: Hope you liked it! I don't know if I'll continue it, but I just wanted to put it out there.


	2. Boys

A/N: Hey, this is the next part. Hope you like it.

Lydia Saracen

I stared at the screen and watched the little tiny rainbow circling swirl around, a sign that the computer was working something out. When it disappeared a box popped up with an invitation to Ichat. I waited until my fathers face popped up on the screen.

"Daddy!" I said. "Hi! How are you? Are you okay? Did you get my package?"

He laughed. "Slow down Lydia. One question at a time alright."

"Alright." I said. "So how are you?"

"Doing fine. Just fine." Dad said. "How're you and your brother doing? "

"We're alright." I lied. Matt'd stayed up until almost 2am trying to figure something out with our grandmother's health insurance people only to have to wake up at a crazy hour for extra football practice.

As for me, after church Matt and grandma dropped me off at work for double shift hell. Then once I got home I had to back 150 chocolate-chip cookies for the "Panther Parents Bake Sale." Matt told me it wasn't necessary, but the parents association sent home letters and then made and announcement at his practice about how they wanted a contribution from every panther family. And then Mrs. Gilksin (who's son was only on JV by the way) made a point to corner Matt and remind him that our family hadn't really been the number one supporter of the Panther Parents even though he was QB1. I baked each batch of cookies with the intent of jamming them down her smug, egotistical throat. Always so proud of her cookies and her cakes which I'm absolutely positive she had her _maid_ make.

"Lydi-lu?" My father's voice brought me back to reality.

"Oh." I said. "Sorry Dad. I- uh- I guess the video cut out for a second or something. What did you say?"

"How's your grandmother?"

"She's doing okay." I said. It wasn't exactly a lie, I guess. Aside from a few problems here or there (like when a character from one of her shows died and Matt and I had to spend and hour trying to get her to come out of the bathroom) she was doing okay. "I sent you a package with sweater she knit you. Told her it was probably a little to hot over there for a sweater, but she wanted you to have it."

"Hi Lydia." A voice cam from behind me.

"Hey Julie." I said turning around.

She looked to the computer screen and I watched her process what was going on. "I just saw you in here, but I better get back to dance practice."

"Who was that?" Dad asked when she was gone.

"Julie Taylor."

"Is she the girl that stole your lunch money?" He said.

I smiled. "Daddy that was like ten years ago. And no, that's not here."

"So she's a friend?" He asked.

"I don't know if I'd say that." I shrugged. "I think she's Matt's girlfriend."

"Matt's- Matt has a- when did that happen?"

"Well it's not actually official." I explained. "But it might as well be." She was coming over all the time and Grandma was starting to like her. She was trying to get me to like her too, but I wasn't really into it.

"Lydia, you don't have a- one of those do you?" Dad said.

"One of what?" I asked. "A boyfriend?" he nodded. "No Dad I don't have a boyfriend."

"Oh good." He nodded.

'I'm glad my loneliness pleases you father' I thought to myself sarcastically. It wasn't as if I had time for a boyfriend between work and Grandma and school and the newspaper, but he was acting like I'd just told him I was taking a vow of chastity. It's not like I didn't _want_ a boyfriend. But it was actually better for Dad to think I didn't. He worried about me more than Matt. Not just for the normal reasons (he was away and I was the girl and the youngest), but also because I reminded him of our mother. He would never tell me that, of course, but I'd heard him say it to Grandma once when I was little. I'd never known my mother at all, so at first really happy about the comparison. But then I realized my Dad was crying. To this day that's only time I've ever witnesses Henry Saracen cry. He went on about how he and my mother had broken each other and he never wanted me to turn into her. It suddenly was my biggest fear. That was the only time I ever heard him talk about my mother, but I heard the same panic in his voice every time he asked me about having a boyfriend or liking a guy. As I got older I realized I could never _actually_ become her, but the fear was still in the back of my mind. It was like the way children understand the monster in the closet isn't real, but sometimes are still afraid when they have to open the door.

Ella Riggins

After searching around the halls for a while, I finally found my brother. He was obliviously buying a soda while about six girls giggled and stared at him. "Hey Timmy," I said trying to ignore them. "Spot me ten dollars?"

"Nope." He said without hesitation.

"Why not?" I asked.

"What for?" Tim popped the can open.

"Tickets to the winter formal."

"What for?" He repeated.

"I just tol-"

"I meant I thought you didn't want to go to that thing." He cut me off.

"I didn't. Now I do. Just changed my mind."

"Changed your mind?" Tim said finishing off the soda in a few gulps.

"Yep." He stared at me. "Tim I just changed my mind. End of discussion."

"Actually," He smiled, "Its **my** ten bucks so I think its up to me when it's the end of the discussion." He tossed the can in the garage and started walking. The girls blatantly staring at us gushed as if he were James Deans. I wondered how sexy they would think he was if they knew this was the same kid who'd once gotten so drunk he puked in our bathtub. I wonder how desirable he would be if _they_ were the one who woke up and tried to take a shower only to find that little surprise.

I shook my head, answering my own question and followed my brother down the hall. "Ugh you're being so annoying." I huffed.

"I just want to make sure that if I give you money it wont be wasted when you change your mind again." He stopped.

'Yeah' I thought to myself. 'because I'm sure whatever _you _were gonna do with it (aka cheetos and beer) wouldn't have been a waste.' But all I said was "I wont. Besides I'll pay you back tomorrow."

"So…why don't you just buy the tickets tomorrow?" Tim asked. "You know, cut me out of the whole thing."

"Because I have to get them now." I said trying my hardest not to rip him apart for making this so hard.

"You didn't want to go three hours ago. Why is it so important that you buy these dang tickets now?"

"Couples have to buy their tickets by today or else they don't get put at the same table." I said before realizing it.

"Couples…?"

This was exactly the conversation I was avoiding. "Parker Cole asked me and I…"

"Who? 28?"

I laughed. "Tim did you know _off_ the football field people actually refer to each other by their real names and not numbers. Or would you rather people constantly refer to you as 33?"

"Hey, you're not gonna get any money from me being such a smartass." He paused for a second. "He's a Junior Ella."

"I'm aware."

"And you would be a sophomore."

"Seeing as how last year I was a freshman, I would be a sophomore this year. Good job Tim." I said. Tim started walking past me. "Tim wait." I followed him. "I'm sorry for being a smartass. I- hey, would you slow down?" But I quickly realized Tim wasn't walking away from me, he was walking towards Parker. "Wait- Tim. Tim stop."

"Hey 28." He said. "I need to talk to you."

Parker's smile faded as his eyes drew a line from Tim to me, back up to Tim. "Hey man. What's up?"

"You takin' my little sister to the dance?"

Parker nodded, nervously. "I mean I wanted to."

"Want**ed**?" I asked.

"I mean I **want** to." He corrected, before turning back to Tim. "Is that cool with you man?"

"You know she's a year younger than you." Tim said.

"Come on Tim." I said. "How old exactly is your new rally girl? What'd she hit puberty yesterday."

"She just makes me cookies Els." Tim said.

"Well we're just going to a dance." I said.

Tim worked it over for a second before turning back to Parker. "You want to take my sister out, cough up the ten bucks yourself. It's called being polite you jackass."

"Got it." Parker said.

"You can go now." Tim said.

Parker scurried off somewhere. I just drilled my eyes right through Tim, before walking in the opposite direction. "Quit following me." I said heading into the nearest empty classroom.

"What?" Tim said, shutting the door behind us. "You can go to the dance."

"I wasn't asking for your permission." I said. "All I wanted was ten stupid dollars."

"Yeah and you got the ten bucks, so what are you still poutin' about?"

"You just totally embarrassed me Tim." I said.

"What?" He scoffed. "That was no big deal…Jeez, what the hell is wrong now?"

"…I didn't change my mind." I said quietly.

"What?"

"About the dance. I didn't change my mind. I just couldn't say I wanted to go when I didn't have anyone to take me. And then Parker asked today and…I _always_ wanted to go to the formal. All my friends are going. They all had dates weeks ago."

"Then why didn't you just get a date when they did?" He asked. "Someone your age who wont wait until the last second to ask you out."

"Oh I know _you're_ not talking to me about what merits a decent date? Or have we forgotten the Tim and Tyra screamfest I've had to put up with for the past, I don't know, 100 years? Besides," I sighed. "Just getting a date? Its not that easy Tim. Not for me."

"What's so hard about it? Tell them you're my sister." He said, with a cocky smile that drove me over the edge.

"_That's_ what makes it so hard!" I snapped. "Because everyone _knows_ I'm your sister. I can see it in their eyes when I walk down the hall or the second I enter a room. Girls either roll their eyes or want to be my 'best friend' so they can get better seats for State or a shot at you.."

"I can't help the fact that girls like me, Ella."

"And as for the guys? Well they see you and that makes them think either they'll get tackled if they ask me out or think that my last name means that I'm some poor, genetically drunken slob who'll for sure give it up for a six pack and a smile. People see you every time they look at me. I don't exist here."

"Aw come on. Don't cry Els." Tim sighed. I hadn't realized I was. "Look I'm sorry alright. If you want I'll go talk to 28- I mean Parker. I'll talk to Parker and tell him I'll pay the 10 dollars."

"No." I said. "You've done enough Tim." I was almost at the door when he mumbled something. "What?"

"I said I'm sorry Ella." He said. "I'm a screw up."

"Tim…"

"No." He said. "I am and I know that and I've kinda been okay with it for years. It works for me. But I shouldn't- I never meant to mess you up and make you wish I wasn't your brother or anything…"

I sighed. "Look Tim it's not _that_ bad. I was frustrated and mad at you. I may have exaggerated a little, but I never wished you weren't my brother. I love you, moron."

"Thanks." He laughed a little. "You too, Els." I don't think my brother'd ever actually said "I love you" to anyone. Billy'd said it a couple times but never did.

"But FYI, that doesn't mean who and if I date is in your hands. And if you **ever** embarrass me like that again, I'm blowing up a giant picture of you playing tea party with me when we were little and posting it on the visitor's bleachers on a game night, got it?"

"Got it." He said. Three rally girls were waiting outside of the classroom for Tim. It was like they had a tracking device on him or something. I resisted the urge to vomit as Tim once again obliviously walked past them and they trailed behind him like a bunch of lost baby chicks.

Nicky Street

Cutting the engine off, the truck slowly pulled up a block away from my house. I knew I should have ran for the house, got in bed and prayed that the lack of angry calls on my cell really meant my parents hadn't realized I was out of the house TWO HOURS past my curfew. I should have been thanking my lucky stars that I'd been able to sneak out in the first place. But all I could think about was the fact that I was sitting in the front seat of Greg Bell's truck with his arm around me.

We started making out for about ten minutes before I tore myself away and headed for our house. I slowly opened the door I started creeping in. I was staring at the stairs so hard trying to will my parents to stay asleep that I didn't even notice my brother Jason. Surprised, I gasped and had to force myself not to make a sound. Jason didn't either. He just gestured for me to go into his room. I sat on his bed and tried to read his expression. Was he mad? Did he think it was funny?

"Where were you?" he asked and I put my money on mad.

"Nowhere." I said. "Are you gonna tell Mama and Daddy?"

"Are you gonna tell me where you were?" Jason asked.

I sighed. "I was at the lake." I said. "Jase please don't tell. I just lost track of time, its no big deal. Besides, how many times have I covered or you when you were out on dates with Lyla." The words slipped out before I could stop them. He looked away. "Sorry." A quick surge of anger ran through me as I pictured Lyla Garrity. The fire was only further fueled when I added Tim Riggins to the picture. I hated them. I hated that that hurt my brother. They disregarded what he would lose because of their actions. He'd already lost so much. I hated that I was forced to walk the same halls with them everyday. I watched them go on with their lives as if they hadn't ripped him apart. Most of all I hated that I couldn't _really_ hate them. I'd known both of them for so long that they were almost family. Lyla'd taught me how to do make up for my first middle school dance and Tim had become a permanent fixture at our dinner table since before I could remember. They hadn't just broken what was left of Jason's heart. They put a strain on their relationships with our entire family. But I couldn't cut them out completely. They meant too much to me. I hated not being able to hate them.

"It's okay." Jason said. He turned back to me. "So you were on a date then?"

"Kind of- I mean we were just at the lake. It wasn't dinner or anything." I explained. "I'm old enough."

"I know you are." He smiled a little. "I just always thought when you started dating I'd be around. You know able to keep an eye on it at school and everything."

"You can still go back. Everyone always says how they miss you and I'm sure you could catch up on everything and-."

"Maybe one day." Jason said, cutting me off. "… So who is it?"

"What?" I asked, thrown off.

"The guy." He explained. "Some guys sneaks my sister out of the house, keeps her out at all hours I at least deserve a name."

"Greg Bell." I said.

"Oh are you kidding me?" He said. "_That_ kid? You're dating _that_ kid?"

"We aren't dating. We went on _a_ date. And what do you mean?" I asked. "What's wrong with him?"

"He's the kid that got all whiny last year when the drama kids had to build their sets and blamed the football team for getting new jerseys. And then he wrote that stupid article in the newspaper about it and the boosters almost recalled our new uniforms."

"What a tragedy." I said sarcastically. "Almost having to play in the same uniform twp years in a row. Did you know the girls soccer team has to buy their own practice balls."

"Oh good, you've become a mini Greg Bale. That's fun." Jason sighed, but I could tell he was kidding. "Just to me a favor, will you? Don't let him take advantage of you."

"Jason, I'm not stupid."

"I'm not saying you're stupid." He said. "I'm just saying I know how a lot of guys think and- I just need to make sure you're taking care of yourself with this kid. You know at school and stuff since- since I can't. Will you do that for me?"

I nodded. "Okay."

"Good." He said. "Now get the sleeping bag out of the closet. I'm pretty sure its still in there." Dad had converted his office space into Jason's new room, but they hadn't had time to change everything.

"Why?" I asked.

"Trust me, the only times I ever got caught sneaking in or out, it was the stairs that did me in. Crash down here."

I smiled. Who says Jason couldn't still take care of me?


	3. Game Day

A/N: Hey guys! Here's the new part. Now off to work on my other story. All work and no play is…well its actually kind of great when your work is your play. And all of your feedback makes it even greater. Anyways I hope you like it!

Game Day

Ella

"Tim!" Billy yelled. "Tim get your ass up!"

"We're out of Lucky Charms." I said.

"There's some of that generic wheat stuff in the back."

"Ew." I cringed. "That stuff is gross."

"What are you too good for generic brands now?" Billy asked.

"When its been in the cabinet since I was 11, yeah."

"Tim!" Billy screamed again, grabbing his keys. "I gotta get to work. Make sure he gets to school on time will you?"

"I am not Tim's babysitter." I said.

"El it's a game day. He doesn't go to school, he doesn't play. Please just make sure he gets there." Billy said, leaving. "There's a box of Lucky Charms in it for you if you do."

"I guess that's who I am now." I grumbled walking over to Tim's room. "I'm the girl who pimps herself for tiny marshmallow clovers…Timmy?" I cautiously opened the door. "Tim." This time I got a grunt in response. "You gotta get up man. I know you're hung over but you gotta get up."

"I'm not hung over." Tim mumbled.

"Oh really?" I asked.

"Nope. For your information, I'm still a lil drunk."

"Oh damnit, Tim." I said. "You can't just blow off school on a game day."

"I don't care." He said. "M'tired."

"Come on Tim. I don't have time for this. I have to get to school too you know."

"Then go so I can sleep." He slurred.

"That's it." I said leaving the room. I came back in a few minutes later.

"Didn't I just tell you to go." Tim groaned. I held the glass of water I'd gotten over his head and turned it upside down. "Ahugh- what the hell Ella!?"

"You hate school? You wanna cut class? Whatever." I said. "But I will not let you ruin football."

"I didn't think you were that big of a Panther fan that I could ruin football for you." He sat up and glared at me liked a kicked puppy.

"Not for me, jackass. For you. Tim the way you look when you play- and I don't mean how fast you run, or how hard you take people down, I mean **you**… It's kind of amazing. So don't go telling me you don't care. I know you do. I know how much you love it."

Tim sighed. "I do love it and that was super inspiring and all Els, but it doesn't change the fact that I'm still really tired."

"There's coffee in the kitchen." I said. He slumped over looking like a wet mop. "There's also more water in the kitchen and I will keep pouring it over you until you decide to get up you jerk."

"You can't call me a jerk." He said. "I have it on pretty high authority that I'm kind of amazing."

"Shut up." I said but couldn't help but smile.

Lydia

"Look, I'm just not gonna be able to take this team any further. I mean Brant's line is huge."

"Matt, you can't let this all get in your head." I said. "You've been doing great so far."

"I mean, I helped get us to the semi finals. That's it." Matt whispered. He poured tea and walked over to our grandmother.

"Thank you Matthew." She smiled. "You all ready for tomorrow night?"

"Um yeah, Grandma." He said.

"Good. I'm just so darn proud of you."

"Thanks." He smiled awkwardly and joined me in the kitchen. "You hear that?"

"That's a good thing." I said. "She's just trying to support you."

"Everyone is." He sighed. "That just makes it worse. I'm gonna let this whole town down."

I followed him into his room. "Okay well that just isn't true."

"Yes it is." He said. "Their defensive end could probably beat me in the 40. How could I not let everybody in Dillan down?"

"Well okay," I said. "let's just say worst of the worst and probably unlikely scenarios: Panthers lose tomorrow night. You will not let all of Dillan down."

"How do you figure that?"

"Well what about Mr. Holdern from church. I'm sure he wont care either way." I said.

"Oh good, so I'll still have the support of a 93 year old man who thinks he's an astronaut 98 percent of the time. Good to know." He said with the hint of a smile. "Anyone not crazy?"

"Julie."

"Julie? You hate Julie." He said.

"I don't _hate_ her"

"Oh really?" Matt asked. "Then why do you storm off into your room every time she comes over?"

"I do not storm off into my room." I said. "Excuse me for not wanting to stick around while my brother makes out with some girl while me and my grandmother watch old Dynasty reruns. A girl, by the way, who treated said brother like absolute crap when she first met him because he played football."

"Yeah." Matt said. "You don't hate Julie at all."

"I don't." I said. "Because now I can tell she really makes you happy. Which is why if, horror of horrors, the panthers lose, she'll still support you. And you know Grandma and I will be on your side tomorrow night."

"Thanks." He said. "Actually at this point it's tonight." I looked at my watch. 12:12. It was officially game day. "Thanks for trying to make me relax, Lyd. I guess I'll just look over the play book a few hundred more times."

"Nope." I said.

"What?"

"I figured a little pep talk wouldn't force you to relax, so I called in reinforcements."

"What does that mean?" He asked.

"Tim Riggins and Smash are on their way to pick you up." I said.

"What- no. Nononono. Lydia I can't-"

"Game day. No morning practice. Besides they promised me you'd be back home by 1:30."

"But I-"

"Matt." I stopped him. "I love you. But you go into the game like this? You aint got a shot in hell."

The horns beeped outside. "Saracen get your ass out here!" Tim Riggens yelled. I winced wondering how the neighbors would feel about that.

"Lets go Mattie!" Smash called out.

"Go." I smiled. "Go out for an hour and breath. You'll thank me later. Promise."

"I guess I don't have a choice." My brother shrugged, but I could already see a little of the tension in him fading. And with Matt, that was a pretty big deal.

Nicky

I heard the rumble of the caravan of cars and trucks coming and braced myself for the noise. "Let's go Panthers! Here we go! You got this boys!" I heard people scream driving by. I cringed, knowing my brother heard them. This time last year he would have been in the locker room getting ready to take the field. But now he was stuck downstairs in the make shift room my parents had made him out of Dad's office. So all that "panther pride" outside? It wasn't exactly music to our ears in the Street house like it used to be.

A lot of things weren't like they used to be in the Street house and it blew my mind how many of them had to do with football. I mean, I'm not naïve. I know my little Texan town is pretty stereotypical when it comes to football. Pep rally and bake sales. Every local radio station (weather it was a sports channel or not) talking about the big game. In places like Dillan, being the family of QB1 meant football had a lot to do with your life, but I never realized just how much. Our Thursday night pasta dinners were a tradition that had long ago started so Jason could carbo-load before game day. Ice cream after church was mom's idea so that no matter the outcome of the weeks game, we still had something to look forward to at the end of the week. a little celebration if the team won. A fresh, new start on the week if (God forbid) they'd lost. Even laundry days would often be determined by what uniform Jay was wearing when and what articles of clothing was considered "lucky and unwashable for weeks (which meant practically dousing them with odor eating chemicals without actually using water). Not to be cheesy but football wasn't just a way of life in our house. It had unknowingly helped shape our family. And all that screaming and yelling did was remind me that it was over. Not just for Jason. Something really integral had been lost for all of us.

Before I knew what I was doing I was standing at the bottom of the steps next to the door of Jason's new room. I knocked quietly, half hoping he wouldn't hear it.

"Come in." the lump in my throat grew with the sound of his voice. He always sounded more tired now. I guess he was more tired now. He tried and hide it from me. He got frustrated with our parents and angry with other people sometimes, but for the most part he'd smile and try to sound more hopeful with me. "Hey Nick." Jason smiled. "What's up?"

"Finishing up some homework." I shrugged.

"Already?" He asked. "What're you trying to butter Mom and Dad up cuz Christmas is way off and so is your birthday."

"I just thought I'd get it done." I said.

"On Friday? I know you're all about Ivy League-ing it out of Dillan, but don't stress yourself kiddo."

" I'm not." I said. "And I'm not _all_ about getting out of Dillan either." It felt weird talking about me leaving eventually to go off to college. Jason wasn't one of those dumb jocks that simply rested on football to get them a scholarship. He was smart and worked hard. But I'd be lying if I said many (if not all) of the schools he'd wanted and had wanted him just weren't viable options anymore. We couldn't afford it without a schalarship and football was going to be his. But now what was Jay going to do. "Besides I don't know what else there is to do in this dust speck of a town."

"Come on Nicky." Jason sighed. "You know _exactly_ what else there is to do. It's a game night."

"I-I know that. That's why nothings going on." I said awkwardly.

"The games going on." He said. "Come on Nick, you don't have to stay home just because I do. Go. I'm sure all your friends are there. I'll be fine." I was sure he was right. About all of it. But I just couldn't. Yeah, maybe Jay would be fine with me being there after everything, but I wouldn't. I couldn't go back to that field, or the crowd. Everything that was game day, it all reminded me of the accident and I wasn't ready. I didn't know if I ever would be.


	4. Cheerleading

A/N: Here's the next part. I hope you like it!

Lydia

The wind whipped around a little and I instinctively adjusted my grandmothers shawl. "You want some more tea, Grandma?"

"No no, sweetheart." She smiled. "I'm just fine. It's your brother I'm worried about. Sweating so bad with this wind, he'll catch a cold."

"Grandma he's fine." I smiled. Several 300 pound guys were making it their business to nail my brother into the ground and she was worried about a case of the sniffles. We watched the game together, like always, cheering Matt on. I looked at the clock and saw that it was almost halftime. "You need anything?" I asked. "Maybe we should make a run for the bathroom before the crowds."

"No thank you Lydia." She said. I knew she wouldn't have gone. Grandma didn't miss a moment of Matt when he was playing.

At half time the crowd went wild at the tied score and the teams shuffled off together. I watched as the cheerleaders jumped all over trying to keep us all pumped until the game started again and thought back to the day they had the tryouts. Matt had practice so it wasn't that hard for me to secret pack some sweatpants and my gym shirt in my backpack that morning before hoping on my bike and heading to the school.

I tried to look as casual as possible when I walked over to the gym. I peeked in at the door. The girls who were already on the team had their uniforms on. All the other girls had their hair up in ponytails and were wearing shorts that said one thing or another. A few of them were girls I knew from class, but most of them I'd just seen around school. No one looked anywhere near as nervous as I felt. I had butterflies in my stomach and my heart was racing. I almost jumped when someone tapped my shoulder.

"Hey Lyd." Landry said.

I whipped around and nearly knocked him over, I was so surprised. "Oh, uh, hey Landry."

"What you doing?" He asked, curiously eyeing the tryouts.

"What?" I said. "Oh um nothing. You?"

"I had to take Matt to practice." He said. "Remember, I picked him up this morning. Hey Lydia, are you trying out to be a _cheerleader_?"

"Wha-no. No." It was probably all in my head, but the way he said it made it seem like the dumbest thing anyone could have ever thought of. I thought about it. It probably was the dumbest thing anyone could have ever thought of. All of the reasons I'd been fighting that I'd ever used to talk myself out of cheering came flooding back.

I had Grandma and a job and school. I didn't have anytime for cheerleading. And it's not like we had any money for uniforms or anything like that. Plus it wouldn't be fair, me getting another extra curricular. Matt had football and I had the newspaper and we barely made that work. If I joined cheerleading something would have to suffer and Matt would've been the first one to volunteer himself. Besides, who was I to even think I could even be a cheerleader. Other than practicing by myself when nobody was around, I didn't have any experience. Some of those girls'd been cheering since we were in elementary school. No wonder Landry said it like it was such a dumb idea.

"So what are you doing at school on a Saturday morning?"

"I-I wanted to try and Ichat with my Dad for a while." I lied.

Landry nodded like it all made sense. "Okay well their practice ends in 20. If you're still around I can drop your house with Matt."

"That'd be great. Thanks Landry." I nodded and he walked away. I took once last peek into the gym. The girls were starting to line up. I could still run in. I could still be a Dillan Panther's cheerleader. I could do all that, but I wasn't going to. I shrugged and headed to the computer room coming to terms with the fact that sometimes, no matter how realistic your dream is, it just won't ever make it into being a reality.

Nicky

I tugged at the bottom of the skirt wondering if it was really as short as I felt like it was. The whole thing just felt a little weird. Standing around doing glorified jumping. I barely tried at the auditions. As an ex-cheerleader herself my mother could make me try out, but she couldn't make me have spirit. Luckily for her, when your brother is QB1 and his girlfriend happens to be the head cheerleader all that was required was my attendance and I got a spot on the team.

And now here I was. First game of the season in a uniform and pompoms and everything.

"NIC LETS GO!" Jason called. Since he had to get to the game early too, he and Tim were gonna give me a ride.

I grabbed my bag and came down the stairs. Mom cried and Dad took pictures and Jason grabbed my bag.

"Did you really kick Marcy Hall during practice?" Tim asked quietly.

"Shut up. It was an accident." I said. "….Kinda." We both smirked secretly.

"You kids have a good time out there tonight."

"Thank you Mama." Jason and I said as she hugged us both at the same Tim.

"You too Tim." She smiled and gave him a hug too.

"Thanks Mrs. Street." Tim said.

"Boys give'em hell." Daddy said slapping them on the back. "And uh, do me a favor? Keep and eye on Nicky."

"Yes sir." The nodded.

"Daddy!" I sighed. "I can take care of myself."

"I know that, Darlin'. I know." He said. "But you just look so darn…I don't want the wrong kind of boy to get any ideas with you dressed like that."

"I'll be fine." I reassured him.

"Alright." He said. "But just in case remember your mother and I will be there in an hour for the game."

We left the house and headed over to Lyla's. "Hey!" She said bouncing into the passenger seat and giving Jase a kiss. She was in her uniform too, only somehow hers seemed to make a lot more sense. That is her chest didn't look like it was unfamiliar with what boobs were like mine. I also notice that her legs didn't look like they'd just been yanked off of a chicken either. Basically she just looked like a cheerleader. We went over to the squad when we got to the school after wishing the boys luck. All of the girls looked like they were about to puke. First game of the season's a pretty big deal in Dillan. All I could think about was how uncomfortable the stupid cheer underpants were (and that maybe if we didn't wear the shortest possible we wouldn't need special underwear). The coach rambled on about spirit and pride and smiles for a good five minutes and I threw in a "yes, ma'am" whenever anybody else did, but honestly I couldn't care less. I liked watching the games and cheering Jason on from the bleachers with everybody else, but this whole thing with cheerleading was totally different. I couldn't wait to take that uniform off.

The next morning I still had it on. I walked into our silent house all alone and made my way up the stairs. I started packing an overnight bag for my family. Just a few things we could use to set up camp at the hospital. Coach Taylor'd driven me and Lyla home. He asked if I needed any help, but I just shook my head. He told me Mr. Garrity would be by in 30 minutes to give me a ride back to the hospital. I'd just put my fathers sweatshirt in the bag, I realized I was still wearing the uniform. I don't know what came over me, but I suddenly had to get it off. I felt like I could smell the hospital on it. The colors just reminded me of Jason's jersey. I ripped it off piece by piece, but the top wouldn't come off. I tried to reach around to figure it out but I just got stuck. I was frantically pulling at it when I heard Lyla. "Hold on. I got it." She said helping me with the clasps. When I finally saw her she looked better than she had, but still wrecked.

"You ready?" She asked. I took the top, threw it on the floor and went to see my brother, ending my first and last experience as a cheerleader

Ella

I sat in the middle of my last period class trying to figure out a time when I would ever need to know chemistry. I didn't see any future in it other than being a chemist or being a chemistry teacher. Neither were high on my to do list. I was finishing the written part of my lab when I felt something hit my back. I turned and saw a crumpled piece of paper on the floor. I opened it to find a drawing. There were two stick figures standing next to a truck. One was labeled "Trailer Park Tim" and the other "Easy Ella." At the top in big bubble letters it said "Riggins Rodeo." I hadn't seen who'd thrown it, but I was pretty sure the smirking girls in the back were the guilty party. Joey Hunter, Jamie Ericson, Bee Adams and Carrie Benjamin.

They were the closest thing our school had to royalty. All rich, prissy cheerbitches that felt like they were entitled to the sun and the moon. You know, the kind of girls that most people love because they only show their true selves (aka their bitchy side) to a select few. And lucky for me I was one of them.

Now honestly none of this really bothered me. I mean I knew why they hated me so much. See most of the people they targeted were kids they considered to be weak. Geeky kids or awkward ones. Kids that sat alone at lunch everyday since pre-school or talked to imaginary frinds until they were 13.

So why did they hate _me_? Basically they all hated me because they knew that I knew their secret. I knew that each and every one of them had a spot in my brother's hall of fame. I'd seen them crawl out of Tim's room at some random hour. Skirt on backwards, makeup smeared. Not exactly the image they'd worked so hard to perfect.

Most girls in town would have givin their left boob to have dirt on half of those girls. If they could spin it the right way they'd have the honor of donning a blue and yellow uniform as cheerleaders themselves. Then, as cheerleaders, they too would get the chance to sleep with my brother and be jerks to the unpopular kids and thus the cycle continues.

Only I didn't want to be a cheerleader. I used to think about it back when I was little. They all seemed so pretty and nice at games. I even thought about it my freshman year, back when Lyla Garrity was a captain. Now I'm not the biggest Lyla fan around, but even I can admit after she lost her hold on them the level of bitchiness went to an all time high (they even started treating _her_ like dirt for a while). So instead of trading in their secrets for shoe poms, I just let them rag on me, content in knowledge that one day they'd be those gross, old miserable chicks that sit in the stands at games, wearing too much make-up and wishing they were young again.


	5. Interactions: Ella and Lydia

Interactions: Ella and Lydia

Ella Riggins kicked a discarded beer bottle down her hallway and avoided what looked liked squashed nachos on the floor. "Damnit." She didn't know how she was going to clean that up. It wasn't fair that it was her job to clean up after her brothers. It wasn't like she was their maid. It wasn't even like they ever asked her to do it. But neither Tim or Billy had a problem letting their house turn into a pig pen. So if she didn't clean it, it would never get cleaned. She was thinking about what it would take to get that tequila smell out of the couch when the doorbell rang.

"Yeah?" she croaked out, her throat still remembering how to work after sleeping.

"It's Lydia Saracen? Matt's sister?"

"What?" Ella asked, opening the door. "It's seven AM."

"Yeah it is." Lydia said. "I- my brother and my father had kind of a disagreement after the game last night."

"Yeah. Yeah I saw that."

"Yeah well- I was wondering if- I was wondering if you've seen him?" Lydia's voice trembled a little. "My brother, I mean."

"Y'know what? Why don't you come in?" Ella said.

Lydia followed her in. "I know Tim always throws parties after games. Matt usually never goes for that kind of thing, but he went to the one the other day so I- I was just- Did Matt come by? Or I mean is he her maybe?"

"I'm sorry." Ella said. "I wasn't really out here for much of the night. I went to bed after a beer or two, but I didn't see him. But you know sometimes people just need a little time to cool off. "

"No." Lydia shook her head. "Not Matt. He would never just not come home. He wouldn't do that unless something- unless something was really wrong."

Ella sighed. "Look I know we haven't really talked in a while. And it's none of my business so please feel free to tell me to shut the hell up, but last night in the parking lot, it seemed like something _was_ really wrong."

Lydia looked down. "My dad's been in Iraq for a while and so he doesn't know what its been like for me and Matt. He just doesn't. And I mean you have NO idea how much I wanted him to come home."

"I bet I could guess." Ella said.

"Oh." Lydia said. "I'm so sorry. I totally forgot."

"That's not what I- It's no big deal."

"No I'm really sorry I mean-"

"Lydia." Ella stopped her. "I don't know the man. I barely remember him. So it's really no big deal. Okay?"

"O-okay." She said nervously.

"So…You we saying?"

"I guess Matt just lost his temper last night, which he just about never does." Lydia explained.

"Seems to be a lot of stuff Matt 'never does'. Maybe he just needed a break." Ella offered.

"That's what Dad was supposed to be." Lydia said. "I just- I thought when he came back he'd take care of everything, but he just- he doesn't know how. He cant handle any of it and-"

"You wanna lower the volume a little Els." Tim walked in.

"You wanna put on something else on Tim. The whole boxers, cutoff t-shirt that you haven't washed in a week, one sock look isn't exactly gonna make you GQ man of the year. " Ella snapped back.

"Darn. We all know that's just my goal in life, aint it?" Tim sighed, falling onto the couch and clicking on the TV.

"We're actually kind of in the middle of something." Ella said.

"Well I was in the middle of sleeping when your voice woke me up, so looks like neither one of us get's what we want huh?" Tim said.

"It's fine Ella." Lydia smiled awkwardly. "I gotta keep looking for Matt anyway. Thanks though."

"No problem." Ella said, letting her out.

"That was 7's sister right?" Tim asked once Lydia was gone. "I didn't know ya'll were still friends. You used to be in girl scouts with her a few years ago, right?"

"If by a few you mean like eight."

"Why'd you quit that? I loved those freakin cookies"

"Dad kept forgetting to pick me up. On of the teachers called him on and he got pissed went on a tear. I didn't really feel like going anymore."

"But you kept in touch with 7's sister."

"Kinda in middle school I guess." Ella shrugged. "I mean its Dillan Tim. Everybody cant help keeping in touch. I see her around school sometimes."

"What was she doing here?"

"Looking for Matt." Ella explained. "He got in a fight with his Dad after the game last night."

"Yeah, I saw." Tim said.

"I think the whole town did." Ella sighed. "Anyways he didn't come home, Lydia's worried."

"She shouldn't be." Tim said. "It's not that big of a deal. If I had to count the number of times Billy stayed out after a fight with Dad."

"Big difference, Timmy." Ella said. "Matt's not Billy. And their father is definitely not _Dad_."

"How would you know about Dad." Tim said defensively.

"I don't want to get into this with you Tim." Ella didn't like talking about her father. Especially not with her brothers. Billy lived to hate the man. And Tim? She knew that Tim still liked to live in a fantasy world about their father. He knew all the facts. The drinking and late nights and leaving with few postcards every year, if any. He knew all of that and still refused to think anything bad about the man.

"What, no. If you have something to say, say it." Tim said. "You were too little to ever really see Dad. How would you know what kind of a man he was other than what Billy tells you?"

"How would I know?" She thought. "I don't know Tim, maybe just because I was 8 doesn't mean I was stupid. Maybe the fact that I learned how to make my first screwdriver when I was 7. Wanna know why? Because Dad was already too drunk to pour and he told me how to do it for him. Or maybe because sometimes, when you guys come home in the middle of the night, I hear those footsteps coming down the hall and think its Dad coming home on a bender and I **still** get a little scared. I still expect to hear yelling and stuff breaking before he blacks out on the couch. _That's_ what kind of man I think our father is." Instead she just grabbed the remote and changed the channel. "You're right Tim." Ella said. "I was too young."


	6. interactions: Lydia and Tami

A/N: Hey! Here's the new part! I love Tami Taylor so I've been waiting to write something with her in it and the last episode was just SO incredible that I had to do something with it. I hope you like it!

Lydia

I sat in the middle of the playground on the tire swings. I'd been coming there at night to be by myself since I was a kid. Winding the chain that held the swing together around and around, then letting go and erratically spinning any which way the it flung me. It usually made me feel free. For a few crazy seconds I didn't have to think about school or money or my grandmother. I didn't have to worry about bills or work anything.

So it would seem logical that when pretty much the worst thing that could ever happen to me happened, I'd find my way there. But it didn't help. My father was dead. Trying not to think about it only kept it in my head. In fact, to be perfectly honest I'd thought about him more in the past few days then I probably ever thought about him when he was alive. That wasn't right. That _couldn't_ be right. I mean what kind of person did that make me. Then again what kind of father did that make him. I cursed myself for letting a thought like that worm its way in. you shouldn't speak ill of the dead. Besides, if there was a quota for trash talking a dead father, Matt was certainly filling it enough for the both of us.

He was upset in a way that could be ignored, comment here or an eye roll there, if I hadn't seen him pretty much every day of my whole life. And it sucked so bad because me and Matt were a team. When he was happy about a grade, so was I. When he was nervous before State, me too. But I didn't want to follow him on this one. I didn't want to hate our father.

"Lydia honey?" I turned and saw someone waling towards me.

"Mrs. Taylor?" I said. "What are you doing here, ma'am?"

"Matt told Julie sometimes you like to come out here."

"Matt's looking for me?" I asked.

"Well, when we dropped him back home your mother and grandmother mentioned you weren't there." She explained. "They said you weren't picking up your phone."

"Oh. It must have been on silent." I lied.

"Well do you want a ride home?"

"No ma'am. Thank you." I tried to put on some semblance of a smile.

Mrs. Taylor winced a little. "Sweetheart, it's getting a little late. I wouldn't feel right leaving you out here by yourself."

"I'll be fine Mrs. Taylor."

"Lydia. I'm not leaving you here." She said. I saw from the look on her face there was no arguing with that. Tami Taylor wore many hats in our little town and therefore went by many names. Mrs. Coach, Julie's mom, counselor to those who needed it. But the role I'd most recognized her in, being a student a Dillan for the past few years, was Principal Taylor. She could make a room of 300 pound jocks glue there eyes to the floor without even raising her voice. Now she may have been lacing it with maternal care, but Principal Taylor was the role she was playing right then. "Now I don't have to sit out here with you. If you need to be alone I understand that. In that case I'll wait in my car right over there. Okay?"

"Yes ma'am." I nodded. I mean what else could I say?

"Okay then." She nodded and head over to her car.

I sat there staring at the seesaw, dumbfounded. I was there about two minutes before I started feeling bad. Mrs. Taylor had better things to do than wait for me. She was just trying to be nice. The Taylor's had always been nice to my family, for the most part starting when Matt moved up to QB1. To be honest I didn't really buy it at first. I thought Coach was just being nice to Matt to get W's in the scoreboards. But over time Coach Taylor and his whole family had gone way beyond what was required of them for him. Mrs. Taylor saw to it that I got to stay with Grandma when Matt was still thinking of leaving for college. Once I got past some of her drama queen tendencies and she was able to break me out of super protective mode, Julie and I'd become friends. Couch Taylor was always there, whether that meant listening to my grandmother go on for 20 minutes about what her thoughts were on the Panther offence, being a shoulder for Matt to lean on when our Dad came home and the two of them had their blow up…I stopped. My dad. I looked back over at Mrs. Taylor sitting patiently in her car. I sighed and started walking over.

"You all set hun?" She asked when I got to the car. "I don't mind sitting here longer."

"No, I'm ready." I got in the car.

Everyone had been so busy nagging me since we found out about Dad. Telling me they were sorry, and they were proud of him and that he was a hero. Either that or trying to force me to talk about something mundane, like the weather or my favorite flavor of jello. Mrs. Taylor just quietly hummed along to whatever was on the radio. I don't know if it was her lack of talking or what, but suddenly I said "Is my brother gonna be okay?" I didn't really know where it came from or how I thought she could possibly answer.

"Well sweetheart, this is a tough thing to go through. Real tough." She said. "But you know what, I think you're both going to come through it. I truly think you will."

"It's just.,," I bit my bottom lip a little. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be…"

"Honey, you're fine." She said, pulling over the car.

"It's just," I repeated, my voice cracking slightly. "My mother hasn't always been around and my d- my dad's been away for a while. For a pretty long time now its just been me and Matt. And it hasn't really ever been easy. With school and work and all. But it wasn't that bad, you know, because he was there. And now… He just sits in his room watching these old videos Dad sent over from Iraq. He just sits there, so angry. And I want to help, I do. But I'm hurting too. And I can't watch those videos. I'm not ready. And he wont talk to me. So we just stay away from each other." I was crying hard. Mrs. Taylor put her arms around me ad I just cried harder. "I need him to be okay. I need him to be okay or I'll be all alone. And I know I should help him I just- I just don't know how and I'm so sorry."

"No." She said rubbing my back. "No ma'am. You have nothing to be sorry about. You've done nothing wrong. Nothing wrong."

"What if I lose him too?"

"Sweetheart you're not gonna lose him. I promise you that." We sat together like that for a good 10 minutes. Me crying and her letting me cry. Eventually I was all cried out and pretty exhausted. When I got home Mom and Grandma each gently scolded me about worrying the other, but I think they understood. I went to my room and started getting ready for bed when there was a knock on the door. I opened it and was surprised to see my brother standing there. "Hey."

"Hey." I said. "What's up."

" You weren't sleeping, were you?" He asked

I shook me head. "No, I just got in."

"I was just thinking about… you know how I have to talk tomorrow at the funeral. And they expect me to give some big speech. But I don't know what to say. I don't want to ruin anything."

"How are you gonna ruin anything?" I asked.

"By saying the wrong thing. Getting upset." He sat on my bed.

"It's okay that you're upset, Matt. I'm sure whatever you feel like saying'll be fine."

"I cant just get up there and say how I really feel. Say how mad I am at him and how much of my life- our lives he missed. I cant do that Lyd. Its disrespectful. Not just to Dad a-and the Army, but what about Mom and – oh God what about Grandma? I can't do that to her. What would you say?"

I thought about it and it killed me but i couldn't come up with anything that seemed right. "I don't know. I mean, mostly I think of Dad as a soldier. Most of whatever else I know about him other than that comes from phone calls and video chat, the occasional time on leave and…well, you."

"Me?" Matt asked.

"Yeah. You remember those stories you used to tell me when I was little. About back when Mom and Dad were still together. The one about that time we drove to Dallas and the other one the toilet paper in the supermarket."

Matt smiled a little. "Yeah…But I can't say something like that at a funeral."

"Why not?" I asked.

"It's not appropriate."

"Appropriate or not," I shrugged. "Thinking about that's been the first time I've seen you smile in a while."

"Yeah." Matt looked away and nodded a little. He looked back. "I guess we got a big day tomorrow. How you doing? You think you're gonna be okay?"

I knew he just meant with the funeral (and to be honest I didn't know what I would be like) but I just thought about what Mrs. Taylor said. "I think we both will."


	7. Being Hated

A/N: New part. Hope you like it!

Lydia

I woke up to the sound of something hitting my wall. I was about to check and see what Matt was doing when a second hit came and I realized it wasn't coming from the wall I shared with him. It wasn't one of the inner walls in the house at all. I went outside to carefully check and see what was going on. Was it a storm that bad, or worse a tornado?

Dillon hadn't had one in a while, but that didn't mean we didn't get them. In fact looking at our front yard, somebody might have thought we'd been hit. There was garbage everywhere. Matt's Panthers sign had been knocked down. It wasn't until I saw the words "Loser" on the side of our wall that I realized only our house was hit. My jaw was locked in a tight, angry line. Yep. It was a tornado. A tornado of drunken, pissed off Panther fans.

I fumed in my head as I cleaned everything up as fast as I could. I didn't want Matt or Grandma to see. I mean hell, ONE game. He plays his ass off and practically saves the day when Jason Street gets hurt, but ONE bad game and all that's forgotten. Lets just ignore the fact that up until he'd practically been training himself or that South Millbank's defense had gotten A LOT stronger since the last time we played them. No let's just forget all that, get drunk and destroy something. And they wonder why the rest of the country has a stigma about Texans. I was done picking up all the crap on the ground when Matt walked out.

"What're you doing?" He asked.

"Um, nothing." I shrugged. "I just, I wanted some air." Matt looked at me, confused, until his eye caught something. I followed his line of vision to his to that damned sign. "Matt…" My voice trailed off as he went and fixed the sign.

"Grandma can't know anything about this."

I'd hoped he wouldn't either, but I guess that was over. "I- I can wash the spray paint right off of that Matt."

"No, that's okay." He said. "I'll do it, can you just get started on breakfast."

"Okay." I started heading in, but turned back quickly. "Matt, they're just a bunch of jerks that'll probably be working at the gas station the rest of their lives just wishing they were young and getting out of Dillon like you are." He didn't say anything. "Matt?"

"Uh-huh." He said absently. "Make sure and put her pills out."

I went in, unsure if he'd even heard me.

Landry came and picked us up for work, the whole time going on and on about football. He dropped Matt off at the Alamo Freeze first and I hopped in the passenger seat and punched him in the arm.

"Um OW." He said. "What was that?"

"Really, Landry?" I asked. "Maybe it was for talking about that game nonstop?"

"People are gonna talk about it." Landry said.

"Well he doesn't need to hear it from his best friend, you idiot."

"You know, if you're gonna be punching me and name callin' I'm gonna have to ask you to get out of my vehicle."

"Just drive before I beat the crap out of you." I said.

When I got to work, all everyone could talk about was the game and how crappy Matt did. Some did it completely unaware that I was his sister. Some knew and whispered about me or just didn't care if I heard their conversations. I wished, not for the first time, that yelling at a costumer wouldn't get me fired. But I knew it would, and from the whispering that even my boss was doing, I could tell he probably didn't want me there anyway.

I could only hope that not many people were going into the Alamo Freeze that day. Matt didn't need anymore of that. Didn't those people get it? All their talk wasn't going to fix the game or make him do any better in the next one. He needed support but they were too busy hating him to see it. I swallowed as I picked up a sheet of paper from a couple I'd just served. "Here's a tip." It read "tell your brother to work on his passing." I rolled my eyes. Welcome to the glamorous life of being the QB 1's sister, I guess.

Nicky

I could feel all the eyes on me. They'd been on me for months now. As if they were trying to convey their sadness for Jason's accident with looks. But now the looks had suddenly changed. There was anger where there used to be sympathy. Both made me want to crawl under a rock.

"Slammin' Sammy", Dillon's biggest voice on the radio, had all but declared war on my family by announcing that we were suing the Panthers. Correction Sammy. _We_ weren't suing anyone. _Our parents_ were suing the Panthers, which really meant suing Coach Taylor and probably getting him fired. Me and Jason were less than thrilled with any of that.

Dillon was the Panthers. Attacking the Panthers was like signing your own death wish. Besides that, it was Coach Taylor. He'd been coaching Jase all the way since he played Pee Wee. It wasn't right to act like he didn't have Jason's best interests in mind when we knew he did. Everyone knew that. But nobody cared if me and my brother agreed it was unfair. They still hated us just the same. Went out of their way to make sure we knew it too.

I was waiting out in the parking lot after school when two guys walked over to me. Tucker Vreeland and Brenden Meems. They'd played with my brother since middle school

"Well if it isn't baby Street." Tucker said

"You lost or something?" Brenden added. "This is the Panthers parking lot. Don't even know how a traitor like you got in."

I rolled my eyes. "Leave me alone Brenden."

"I mean I don't think it's safe for traitors to be here." He continued

"Yeah," Tucker added. "Not safe around here at all."

"Okay first off," I said sick of them "you both sound like a couple of second rate, country fried John Wayne's right now, you do know that right? And secondly neither of you exactly scare me."

"Yeah, why's that?" Brenden asked.

"Well see Brenden, it's kind of hard seeing you as a threat when I just keep getting the mental image of **me** kicking **your** ass for calling Tucker 'Yucker Peeland' all the time."

Both boys turned a little red. "That was in the third grade Nicky." Tucker defended.

"Well that's how old you're both acting, so maybe I should too."

"I'm not afraid of you. I'm way bigger now." Brenden said, unaware of how dumb it sounded.

"Yeah," Tucker said. "There's no way you can beat him up like that anymore."

"Shut up man." Brenden said. I couldn't help laughing. "Sure, laugh it up Street. It's not like you're the one getting let down. You're family's _suing_ coach. I mean its bad enough your brother had to go and screw up the team and get himself hurt but-"

I don't know how it happened so fast. In seconds my books were on the ground and I was on top of him. He was right, he was bigger than me and I couldn't beat him up, but I didn't care. Tucker pulled me off of him, but I just kept trying to get loose.

"Look what you did to my face you bitch!" Brenden yelled. I'd split his lip a little and left a scratch mark on his face. One of the benefits of fighting as a girl I guess. "You're gonna pay for that." He came toward me.

"What the hell is going on here?" I heard a voice and instantly recognized it as coach Taylor's.

Tucker let me go. "Nothing, sir."

"Doesn't exactly look like nothing Vreeland." He said. "You okay Nicky?"

"Coach she…"

"Did I ask you a question Meems?" Coach Taylor cut him off.

"No sir."

"Then shut your mouth. You alright Nicky?" He asked again.

"Yes sir." I didn't know what he thought of me at that point. I mean my family _was_ suing him. Tucker and Brenden weren't wrong on that one.

"Alright." Coach said. "I want you both running those bleachers until you can remember how we treat ladies around here."

"But Coach she's the one who attacked me." Brenden said.

"Brenden you weighed in at 197 pounds last week. You're honestly trying to tell me that this young lady, near half your size, attacked you for no reason?" Brenden was quiet. "Fine you can go to the nurse if you feel like that tiny little scratch is worth it. When you're done you can join Vreeland on those bleachers. I'll come out in a half an hour and see if you've learned anything."

They both looked like they wanted to argue but thought against it.

"You need a ride home or somethin'?" Coach Taylor asked.

"No sir, my mom's coming to pick me up." I explained.

"How's she doing?"

"Alright." I said. There was an awkward silence for a moment. "Coach Taylor I-I'm sorry about all of this with suing you and all."

"That's alright Nicky."

"Mama and Daddy, they said we were suing the school and me and Jay didn't even want to do _that_, let alone sue you but now it's just… I'm just real sorry about all of it."

Coach waited, making sure I was done. I think he knew I just had to get all of that out. "Listen, I've known your family for a while now and I think very highly of all ya'll. So just know, no matter what happens, I believe your parents doing what they think is best for you and your brother."

I nodded. We both turned when my mother pulled up.

"Hey there, Joanne." Coach said.

"Coach." She said briskly. "Let's go Nicky."

I felt so embarrassed. "Mama…"

"Now." She cut me off.

I picked up my bag and got in the car. "Thanks again Coach Taylor." He nodded as we took off.

"So," my mother said "What'd he say to you? He try and convince you that we shouldn't sue him because he's a good person?"

"Actually he tried to convince me you're a good person." I said barely under my breath.

"Excuse me?"

I thought about what road I wanted to take with this. "Mom, this whole thing's messed up and he's not even mad about it. And then for you to be like that with him..."

"Be like what?" She said.

"You were kinda rude." I said. "You could have at least said hi."

"When you're suing somebody, I don't think its really appropriate to-"

"To what?" I asked "To say hi?"

She sighed heavily. "Nicole Johanna Street I have spent the ENTIRE arguing on the phone with the ramp guy over prices, your father is getting threatening calls at the store, your brother wont even look at me and quite frankly the LAST thing I want to deal with right now is a fight with my daughter over manners when, to be honest young lady, yours haven't been that impressive recently. Now either lose that attitude or don't say anything at all."

I'd had fights with my mother before, but I knew nothing was going to make either of us budge on this one. Coach was right. She believed she was doing the right thing. And I believed she had everything all wrong. And we were both too pissed and too stubborn to give. We drove the whole way home in silence.

Ella

Like it wasn't hard enough having the self proclaimed male slut of Dillon being my older brother. Like I didn't already have to walk around knowing he'd gotten with half of the girls I knew. No, my brother had to go and outdo himself this time. _Lyla Garrity._ The same Lyla Garrity who happened to be dating his best friend. Hell, more than friends. I mean him and Jason, they were like brothers.

And I mean aside from the fact that she was the girlfriend of his paralyzed best friend, she was _Lyla Garrity_. Condescending, super self righteous, pom pom carrying, bake sale throwing Lyla freaking Garrity. God's gift to Dillon. Tyra got on my nerves as much as the rest of the girls that made their way into my brothers bed (or the backseat of his car, or our couch, etc.), but knowing that he was with Lyla aggravated me to a whole 'nother level. Sure she'd put up with Tim for Jason, but she always had to make a big show of it being demeaning to her very nature.

I got sick of the stares and whispering and decided to eat lunch in the library. Food was banned but I'd learned if you sat all the way in the back by the computers the librarian couldn't see you. I made my way back there and was surprised to see who was already in my spot. I thought about slowly turning around before she saw I was there, when her teary eyes flicked up at me.

"Ella." She said, trying in vain to act as if she hadn't been crying.

"Hey." As much as I couldn't stand her, the idea of being mean to her at that moment felt like being mean to a sick baby bunny. I looked at her computer screen. _The Official Lyla Garrity Slam Page. _"Are you kidding me?"

Following my line of vision she immediately clicked out of it. "It's no big deal."

"Oh really? So that's why your mascara's all runny?" I asked.

She shrugged. "I deserve it."

I rolled my eyes. "Okay look, can you please cut the martyr crap? You royally screwed up and I'm not exactly on your freakin' fanclub, but this kind of group mentality stuff is just plain stupid. I mean how do these idiots really have time to put together an entire website when half of those pom pom pincesses cant even use a calculator for fear of breaking a nail."

"I'm one of 'those pom pom princesses' you know." Lyla said.

"Actually according to that you're the 'pom pom whore'."

She looked shocked for a while before she cracked a smile. "Wow. That kind of harsh honestly must run in your family. Tim's…"

"Okay, okay." I cut her off. "Hold it right there. No talking about my brother. That's gotta be rule number one if we're gonna be…" I paused for a second.

"Friends?" Lyla offered.

"Friend_ish_." I compromised. Friends with Lyla Garrity? Never in a hundred million years did I think I could be friends with perfect Lyla Garrity. But then she wasn't perfect was she? For the first time since I met her I could see that she was flawed just like the rest of us and I know it sounds stupid, but somehow that made the idea of her acceptable. Who would have thought that being hated would actually make me like Lyla more.


End file.
